Interview: Rasheed Al-Maraj, the governor of the Central Bank of Bahrain (page 2 of 2)

And the idea is that we don't want the management to be strong in their presence if the board will then find it difficult to challenge them.

"We insist on proper checks and balances within the organisation. This is not to limit the activities of management, but to ensure that the boards are overseeing the activities of management."

Working with the GCC Board Directors Institute (BDI) and others bodies, the CBB is serious about raising standards across the region.

"In the financial sector, every regulator is very concerned about lagging behind the curve. Everyone wants to impose best practice - so we are part of this wider group that has interests in seeing best practice when it comes to corporate governance," says Al-Maraj.

At the CBB, corporate governance is now an integral part of its approach, in the same way as it provides quality training to its staff. In this way, best practice can spread wider, says Al-Maraj.

"We feel that if financial institutions are fully compliant with all the corporate governance requirements, they will be in a position to exhibit to their counterparts and their stakeholders that they have checks and balances and are part of a culture that complies with best practices," he says.

In the final analysis, corporate governance is not just about ticking boxes and complying with regulations or requirements of the regulator, but it is to do with the conduct of management and the board, and the discharging of their duties.
"This is the most important thing for us because people want to see and feel the reflection of all of this within the different levels of the organisation," says Al-Maraj.

This article is part of the GCC Board Directors Institute report, for more information please visit their website